Then we are in complete agreement. Why you felt the need to argue some esoteric philosophical bullshit is beyond me.
Because that isn’t what interests me. What interests me is giving the competitors a level playing field. When it comes to racing, weighing the cars as raced is crucial to this goal.
All the experts in the field – the professionals – agree that weighing cars as raced is the fair thing to do. Therefore, by definition if you disagree with that then you are, in fact, making an extraordinary claim.
And just so you know, there are no different rules for different drivers. There used to be when they used to let lighter drivers race lighter cars. Now, finally, everyone is racing by the same rules. Dead Badger, why aren’t you taking him to task for this? Aren’t you the one arguing that any rule applied equally (all cars must weight the same as raced) are fair by definition?
I have explained this many times in this thread, though in fairness that was three years ago.
Physical advantages in sports are fair when the advantage helps a human endeavor. Physical advantages are unfair when they confer mechanical advantage. Since the drivers don’t power the cars, a lighter driver gets an unfair mechanical advantage unless they carry extra ballast to even things out.
When it comes to turning the steering wheel, that isn’t a mechanical aspect of the sport; the driver powers that purely through muscle. Therefore, physical advantages are right and proper for steering purposes.
Those are races that don’t have all the rules about car specs, right? Series like that are engineering contests, not real sports.
Engineering contests are fine and dandy. They’re not fair at all, but they don’t need to be because the contest isn’t between the drivers; it’s between the engineers.
A fair race is one where the engineering is equalized. Getting to race a lighter car is to race with an advantage in engineering.
The other drivers are gonna get all pissy because she won based on pit stops and remaining fuel. So the spin will be she only won because she’s so light.
Weren’t drivers already pissy about how she had an ‘unfair’ advantage being s small and light? I would think a victory like this would reinforce that. The linked article suggested she won because the other leaders had to pit and she didn’t. Personally, my own reaction would be to try and figure out how her team managed their fuel better, but there’s always gonna be some who cry foul.
The argument will be that the thirty pounds or so that she has on her opponents allowed her car to get better mileage and acceleration, which allowed her to require fewer pit stops and to recover more quickly from them, which allowed her to win the race. It’s bullshit (I can’t imagine that thirty pounds or so making more than a fraction of a second’s difference, and other, taller drivers have been working at this disadvantage for decades now without a word in protest) but that’s what the argument will be.
How do you think an offer on her part to take thirty pounds of penalty weight, like a chunk of lead under her seat, would quiet down her opponents?
Ditch the irony quotes. In the world of professional racing, having a lighter car is absolutely an unfair advantage. That’s why every single league weighs the drivers with the car.
And as for the case you and appleciders are making, are you guys trying to woosh me? IndyCar, like all other major racing leagues, normalizes for driver weight.
A few things bear repeating here. First, “a fraction of a second’s difference” is huge in top level racing. It is the polar opposite of bullshit. In fact, cars with a full tank of gas go noticeably slower than those running on empty, simply because of the weight of the gas. This phenomenon happens to every single driver as the gas gets used up. Even in NASCAR, where the cars weigh twice as much, they go slower on a full tank.
Taller and bigger drivers have NOT “been working at this disadvantage for decades now without a word of protest.” They have always protested this unfair advantage the lighter drivers enjoyed. It just didn’t make headlines until Patrick joined the circuit.
And finally, as I already mentioned, Danica was already carrying extra weight because she’s lighter. It’s the new rule that made headlines a few weeks back, which is why I bumped this three year old thread in the first place.
Just saying this over and over doesn’t make it true. You have yet to come up with a convincing argument that it is unfair. “Everyone else does it” is pretty weak.
Dude, you’re the most arrogant moron I’ve ever come across. Every single expert and authority is in agreement on the issue. But oh no, they’re all idiots and only the brilliant you understand the the real situation?
Give it a fucking rest. Why don’t you go argue for creationism or debunk global warming or something. You know, because unanimous expert agreement is so meaningless and all.
hehheh, those NASCAR guys have my undying respect as the greatest cheaters ever to cheat. Bill Belichick could certainly learn a thing or two from them.
Lead helmet? That’s funny as shit. The BBs, though, is pure genius.
Not sure why that’s a surprise, or “soooo-prahze” as they say down south. NASCAR’s founding fathers were ridge runners (smugglers) that ran homemade whiskey and moonshine in fast cars in the dead of night to evade the local police. It’s no wonder they’re cheaters, they’ve got years of experience.
No surprise, I always knew they cheated in every ingenious way possible. I just never knew any of the particulars, and those examples struck me as funny.
I don’t follow NASCAR closely, but am I right in assuming that they now weigh drivers and cars, and do other tech inspections, after the race, as well as before? I know they do in Formula 1: you can often see the drivers stepping on the scales before the podium ceremony.